Friday, October 22, 2010

Halloween!

Halloween is quickly approaching and that's a big holiday around our house. It's my husbands favorite...so much so that we decorated for it about a week before October began. What are some of your costume ideas? We are on a tight budget this year, so our kids are getting creative. One daughter is going to be a modern day Cinderella, which means: Jeans, blue shirt, princess hair and tiara (such a cute idea), another is going to be a "goth fairy". Yeah, I didn't know what that meant either...basically just a fairy wearing black. Turns out she has everything she needs except for wings, so we lucked out there too! Not sure about my youngest son, he still can't decide what's cool enough for him to be but I have a feeling it might have something to do with a football player. Our littlest goblin is going to be Minnie Mouse and the oldest...well I told him he's too old for us to still be buying a costume for :).
Here's the real dilemma, my husband and I just got invited to a Halloween party. I'm not having much luck coming up with cheap costume ideas! I really wanted to go as "Dog and Beth" but as I said earlier....low budget this year, so I'm trying to think of something I can make myself. Hmmmm, pictures to come as idea's do!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

1 down, 5 to go

It's such a strange thing to be a step parent, you really can't imagine all the intricacies unless you've been there. Having been a parent before marrying my husband you'd think that I wouldn't have too hard of a time adjusting...wrong :). There really is something to be said about the natural order of things and what I mean by that is you grow with your kids...if you are a mom of a 3 year old you don't really know what to do with a 10 year old! When we married, my oldest was 8, his oldest living with us was 12. Now that we've been together for awhile and I'm settling into the teen years, I'm far more prepared to battle with all that comes from older kids.
My husband has an older son who's come to visit many times and came to live with us last year. When he moved in he was 18 and a senior in High School. He completed his senior year, graduated, turned 19, got a job, got a car...and just moved out! Talk about weird. It was awesome to have him here, we all love him so much but also weird to have an "adult" in the house. He just moved out about a week ago and that was even weirder! As a mother of kids ranging from 2 to 16, it's strange to have that feeling that it's getting close to the time for one to leave the nest. It's not a natural feeling as a mom to feel like a child should be out on their own and yet that feeling does eventually come.
It happened quickly, in about 3 hours to be more specific! He came home, said he needed to talk and told us he'd been offered a job back in California starting the next day so he was going to pack. We weren't completely unprepared for this news, but still shell shocked at the timing. I told him he had to wait to say goodbye to his siblings who were all still in school and for me to get to the store to at least get him a road trip snacky care package together! It's probably for the best it happened so quickly, like a band aide, I didn't have too much time to tear up! We love and miss him and hope he's doing well in that big scary world!
We joke about the time when all our kids have moved out and we can have time to ourselves, but the reality is we will miss them all dearly. I look at my baby girl, listen to her sweet little voice, the sound of her feet running around the house, the sweet way she grabs my face to give me kisses, how she will take my arm and put it around her if she wants to snuggle and I try to memorize every moment! Life is busy with so many (now 5) kids at home, especially having them all in different schools but I try to live in the moment with them. I try not too be too busy to listen to their stories about the drama at school, listen to their oh so not funny jokes :), and always grab them for a hug before they run back out the door. I know that all too soon our home will be quiet. Enjoy every moment with your kids, let them go when it's time but until that time comes make some memories!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Teenagers!

I've SO slacked on this blog...i'll do better, I promise! And unlike most
teenagers, I really will do better :). I have teenagers, can you tell? I
have 3 to be exact. People will tell you that the teen years are tough, but
you really have no idea until you're in them. Emotional, irrational,
sometimes dishonest, lazy and excuse making machines that they are...
it can be tough. Not to mention that THEY. KNOW. EVERYTHING!
Don't get me wrong, I love my teenagers. It's fun to see them grow up,
make good choices, be good examples and have that friendship start to
grow with your children that you will have with them as adults. We get
to hang out with our teenagers and talk about life, about how the effect
that choices at this age can ripple throughout their lives, we can talk
about t.v. shows that aren't cartoons, movies, jokes, dating...things
that you can't talk about with younger kids. Teenagers have their up
side too, they can be pretty funny when they're not trying to be super
cool.
The teen years really are a roller coaster ride, one minute you're
laughing or having a normal conversation and the next...crying,
yelling, mouth hanging open from the ridiculous thing they just said,
or having to control your natural urge to take off your shoe and beat
them with it!
(I never would or have laid a hand, or shoe on my kids...but lets be
honest, the urge is there with teenagers!).
Parents of babies, young children, tweens...prepare yourselves! Buy a
5 point safety harness and strap in, it's going to be a bumpy ride!